John Ormsby

For a century the default English Quixote, and still a fine free one. Ormsby is faithful and careful, with none of the padding or comic embroidery earlier translators added, and his notes are genuinely useful. The prose is clear late-Victorian English, a touch formal to a modern ear but never stiff, and he serves Cervantes’ meaning rather than punching up the jokes. If you want the whole book, accurately, at no cost, Ormsby is the reliable choice.